Sunday, October 07, 2012

Know of Foe: University of Windsor

With apologies to the M-Zone, we present the second installment of "Know of Foe," our annual preview of Michigan hockey's Canadian exhibition opponent.

After today's Blue vs. White game, Michigan takes on its first extramural competition this season with a visit from the University of Windsor Lancers. No university in Canada is closer to the U.S. border, and the university's Wikipedia page helpfully notes: "Many students take advantage of their proximity to Michigan for cultural, recreational and educational opportunities." Located in the shadow of the Ambassador Bridge, UWindsor students and faculty spend most of their days hoping that Matty Maroun's dilapidated span of corruption doesn't collapse on top of them.

"The contemporary design [of the logo] speaks to many of the school’s values of creating dynamic connections and forward momentum." The wordmark is "clean, bold, and sophisticated." Seriously.

UWindsor introduced a new logo in 2007, and, unless you want to read some of the most contentless corporate speak imaginable, do not click on that link. At the same time, they adopted the slogan "thinking forward," which supposedly "states the University's vision for the future and claims the leadership position in its sector," whatever the hell that means. Considering that UWindsor has a long-held reputation of one of Ontario's safety schools, it probably means they plan to stop being a safety school. Best of luck with that!

The University of Windsor's roots go back to 1857, when the Jesuits founded Assumption College on the university's current location. Assumption College existed as a completely independent religious institution until 1919, when rising costs led it to affiliate with the non-denominational University of Western Ontario in London. As an affiliate college, students at Assumption received degrees from UWO until 1953, when the college ended its affiliation with UWO. In 1962, an act of provincial parliament assumed the college to the status of university, creating the University of Windsor we now know and drive over as we cross into Canada. While UWindsor is non-denominational, it has three affiliates for specific religious groups: the still-extant Assumption University (Catholics), Canterbury College (Anglicans), and Iona College (United Church of Canada). The affiliate colleges are where you go to get a theology degree.

UWindsor's list of famous non-sporting alumni is fairly brief, as the biggest names outside of sports and Canadian politics are actors Warren Christie (star of Apollo 18) and Colm Feore (semi-famous "that guy"). If you listen to CBC radio a lot, you may be familiar with Anna Maria Tremonti as well.

The University of Windsor's sports teams refuse to use the horrible new university logo.

In the sports world, the one sport where Windsor has Michigan beat is ice dancing, where UWindsor's Tessa Virtue, along with partner Scott Moir, won the gold medal at 2010 Olympics, leaving Michigan's Charlie White and Meryl Davis with the so-so silver. They're all good buddies in real life though. The biggest hockey names to pass through Windsor's campus are Hall-of-Famer (and Canadian Senator) Frank Mahovlich and Chicago Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville.

The Lancers play their home games off-campus at the Windsor Arena, which is located downtown, a few blocks south of Casino Windsor. Last year, the Lancers won their last six regular season games to finish 15-12-1, which was good for 5th place in the OUA West. In the playoffs, they upended #4 seed York and #2 seed Lakehead to advance to the divisional final, where they were defeated by top seed UWO. They finished their season with a loss to Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières in the OUA bronze medal game. (For some reason, Ontario University Athletics includes a lot of teams in Québec. I guess that's no weirder than the Big Ten having twelve teams.)

Bold prediction based on no evidence: After last year's bold prediction worked out so well, I won't be so bold this year. Michigan gives up a few while sorting out the goaltending situation, but puts up more than a few. 5-3, Michigan.

HSR 10

(our thanks to @joefedewa)

Mission Statement

"But do let me reiterate the spirit of Michigan.It is based upon a deathless loyalty to Michigan and all her ways; an enthusiasm that makes it second nature for Michigan men to spread the gospel of their university to the world's distant outposts; a conviction that nowhere is there a better university, in any way, than this Michigan of ours."

--Fielding H. Yost upon his retirement as Michigan's athletic director in 1940.